Carty appointed to lead WWPA men's officials

Mitch Carty, a former Western Water Polo Association president and currently the conference's women's director of officials, has been appointed as the director of officials for the men's side of the league, it was announced by WWPA Commissioner Christy Medigovich this week.

Carty, who presided over the WWPA men's conference from 1998 to 2002, replaces Jim Cullingham, who also serves as the director of officials for USA Water Polo.

"Mitch is a seasoned water polo professional. His leadership, experience, and commitment to the betterment of our sport will be extremely positive for the future of the WWPA, its administrators, referees, coaches, and student-athletes," said Medigovich. "I am excited to have Mitch on board. He follows in the footsteps of Jim Cullingham who has served the WWPA in this role for close to 10 years.

"I thank Jim for his hard work and dedication to the advancement of our sport and to the WWPA conference."

Carty served a decorated career as the head men's water polo coach at Whittier College, where he previously starred as a golfer and water polo player. During his tenure as WWPA President, he handled the selection and seeding for the conference's championship tournament, facilitated the annual business meeting, and governed over the league's budget.

After retiring from the Poet helm in 2007, Carty served as an official at both the WWPA men's and women's championships, plus two NCAA tournaments. He also served as an instructional chair of the Southern California Aquatics Federation, Water Polo for three years; then as SCAF-WP senior chair for another three. In the former role, he designed instructional curriculum for hundreds of officials, conducted clinics throughout Southern California, and administered the annual rules test. In the latter position, Carty served as a liaison with collegiate assignors, identifying officials suitable for promotion from high school to collegiate water polo.

"Many thanks are owed to Commissioner Medigovich-Sicard and the selection committee for this fantastic appointment," said Carty. "I'm thrilled to be back involved on the Men's side of the WWPA and sincerely looking forward to strengthening the trust between the coaches/athletes and the officials. Our officials only exist as a result of the time athletes and coaches spend to build our sport. We owe it to them to be the best we can be. I hope we can uniformly demonstrate our professionalism and commitment to the craft of officiating water polo at the collegiate level. I have confidence that my time as an athlete, coach, referee and now Director of Officials in the WWPA will allow us to become a model conference."

Carty also serves as the chief financial officer for the California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section, which governs nearly 600 high schools in Southern California.

As the WWPA Director of Officials, Carty will manage the selection and organization of officials for the WWPA men's conference, and assign and evaluate the game officials at home games and hosted tournaments of WWPA member schools. He will also collaborate with the conference coaches to ensure accuracy of scheduling, the quality of officials, and the safety of participation; and will work with Medigovich in maintaining the highest quality of officials in the conference.

Founded in 1981, the Western Water Polo Association has eight member institutions in the men's conference: Air Force, Cal Baptist, Concordia (reclassifying), Fresno Pacific, Loyola Marymount, Santa Clara, UC Davis and UC San Diego.